LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, 

Shelf. BX 

UNITED STATES OF AMEKIOA. 




The Position of Catholics 




in the United States 



A SERMON PREACHED IN ST. MARY'S CHURCH, RAHIVAY, N. J., ON 
SUNDAY, JANUARY A th, 1880. 



? 



—by—, 

rev. s. b!smith, D.D 



IN REPLY TO A SERMON PREACHED BY REV. D. HALLERON, IN THE 
SECOND M. E. CHURCH, RAHIVAY, N. J., NOVEMBER 1879. 



PRICE, 25 CENTS. 




RAHWAY, N. J., 

P. C. CAHILL, PUBLISHER, 
1880. 




PREFACE. 

Upon the urgent and pressing request of esteemed friends, especially 
among the clergy, I have determined to allow my reply to Mr. Halleron to 
be published in pamphlet form. The Minister's sermon has been added in 
order to give the reader an opportunity to compare both sermons. 

I cannot allow this occasion to pass without again expressing my pro- 
found appreciation of the sense of " fair play " so universally shown me by 
my non-Catholic fellow-citizens. On the very day after I had preached my 
sermon, I was assured by large numbers of them (some of whom are 
among the most prominent members of Mr. Halleron's own church), that 
they entirely disapproved of the Minister's sermon. 

S. B. SMITH. 

Rahway, Feb. 12, 1880. 



PRINTED BY 

W. L. MERSHON & CO. 

37, 39 and 41 Clinton Street, 
RAHWAY; N. J. 



Our Danger and Duty. 

A SERMON PREACHED BEFORE THE JUNIOR AMERICAN MECHANICS, IN 
THE SECOND M. E. CHURCH, RAHWAY, N. J., ON SAB- 
BATH EVENING, NOVEMBER 3 oth, 1870, 

— BY — 

Rev. D. Halleron, B. D. 

"Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, Tbe strong.— 
1 Cor. 16:13. 

A few evenings since, four young men waited on me to 
request a sermon to the order of which they were members — 
the " Junior American Mechanics," it being their custom to have 
such a sermon preached to them annually. I cheerfully consented 
for the following reasons: 

First. These were young men who shall soon heir vast respon- 
sibilities and who need all the encouragement we can possibly 
give them. 

Secondly. Because this order links the religious with the 
humanly prudential^ thereby indicating their dependence upon 
God for success. And still another reason,which to me is of 
paramount importance, namely, the noble objects contemplated 
by this Order, the most prominent of which is the preservation 
of American institutions as they have descended to them from 
their fathers. 

I propose by the help of God to consider 

OUR DANGER AND OUR DUTY. 

But prior to the discussion of the topic, permit me to call at- 
tention to the peculiarities of American institutions. 

1. It will be seen that they are of a national, as distinguished 
from an international character. That is, in this country we have 
institutions and modes of administering our economies as distinct 
in nature as those of any other nation, even though there is a 
constant influx of an alien population. It seems as if geologic 
variations, or the natural contour of lands, have had a determin- 
ing influence upon the religous faith and the form of the civiliza- 
tion prevailing among them. — Thus we see the reformation not 
moving southwards, but with the Rhine, and hanging in clear 
luminosity over the fens of the Netherlands, permeating the 
valleys of England and Scotland, and illuminating the dark for- 
ests of Scandinavia, while Italy, with balmy skies, Spain with 
luxuriant vineyards, and France with palace and pomp, were al- 
most undisturbed in the slumbers of rude medievalism. The 
sturdy principles of Reformers demanded a firm soil in which to 
vegetate for the "healing of the nations." In this country, differ- 
ing in geologic character and diversity of surface, we should 
look for a civilization distinct from, but not necessarilly antago- 
nistic to, that of other lands. — This we discover here, so that in- 
stitutions of foreign cast must not supplant nor even grow side 
by side with those already in existance. 



2 



OUR DAN GEE AND DUTY. 



2. It is to be noted also that religion permeates the thought 
as well as the institutions of this land to the extent that it does, 
perhaps, in no other. — We need no amending of the Constitution 
for inserting the name of God therein. He was honored in 
the formation of the government and by men, too, not generally 
deemed pious. One of our best legists has said, "Christianity is 
and always has been a part of the common law of the state; 
Christianity without the spiritual artillery of European countries 
— not Christianity with an established church and titles and spirit- 
ual courts, but Christianity with liberty of conscience to all 
men." But even better still, our religion is unwoven with the 
web and woof of our every day life, swaying men with its mighty 
influences in all legitimate pursuits. 

3. Another peculiarality of American institutions is that they 
recognize the Divine in man to a greater extent than those of 
any other country. They elevate no families to titled sinecures. 
That all men are equal, is the basal theory of our Republic, so 
that every avenue of honor or weal is open to all men irrespective 
of the accident of birth. This cannot be said of any other people. 
A man is at once crowned king and secured in the possession of his 
royalty. In the most enlightened European countries, insular or 
continental, they have only approximated to this bold ideal. In 
France the same principles are now in course of elaboration, while 
Europe watches with cynic look the strange experiment. We 
cannot help noticing, too, the singular purity of the men from 
Avliom we derive our national existence, both in their public and 
private lives. Henry VIII, of England, advanced with Spartan 
chivalry to a bold prominence, England's claims, which she re- 
tains to this day, but he was impure and despotic. The Georges 
were neither lofty in patriotism nor actuated by great motives. 
Not so with the founders of our government; purer patriotism 
never burned in men's souls, or shot out in burning glances 
under moistened lids. Their private lives lent brilliant lustre to 
their representative characters. Young men, you are proud of so 
noble an ancestry, and well you may. They bequeathed to you 
no glittering heraldry nor inalienable estates, but their holy pur- 
poses, the simplicity of their lives, their consuming ambitions, 
conceived in tears and baptized at the alters of their God, and 
carried with unflinching courage to joyous consummation, stand 
out in bold prominence, and shall crown with benedictions com- 
ing generations ! 

OUR DANGER. 

1. The first danger to which I desire to direct your attention 
is, that America is the land of promise of the civilized world. All 
eyes are turned in this direction, so that in every hamlet and lowly 
cottage in Christendom, America may be said to be a household 
word, which, upon its mention, crimsons the cheek of youth and 
lights the eye ot age with hope. In j)roportion to the grade of 
civilization will be the strength of the resolution to emigrate 
thither; and this is accounted for to my mind, by the fact that at 



OUR DANGER AND DUTY. 



3 



home they have been advanced to certain privileges by which 
they have glimpsed the greatness of their natures, but in pursu- 
ance of the consequent duties, find themselves hampered by many 
restrictions. England is an exception to this charge, and Eng- 
land only, among all the old governments of Europe; hence they 
naturally turn to a land in which their liberties are not unduly 
restrained. Consequently all kinds of political and ecclesiastical 
faiths are imported — faiths that have strengthened through the 
growth of centuries and possess the halo of traditional authority. 
These antagonize the purely national forms already in existence 
here. If men were to come and discard these faiths, and as 
they enter a new land determine to conform to its demands in 
every particular, no such danger would arise. This, many will 
not do, as instances of recent date affirm. 

2. Probably another as great danger lies in a misconception 
of ,the true nature of freedom. It is apparent in history as 
in nature, that extremes produce extremes. The bloodshed 
of the French Revolution of 1789 was the purely rational out- 
come of centuries of religious intolerance. The church was said 
to have been the embodiment of Christianity, and Paris for ages 
knew no other faith than the Romanism of Italy and Spain, a foe 
to every form of liberty, that quenched the kindling ambitions 
of self-government and freedom. Nationalism lay prostrate in 
the dust while the church placed its heel upon its throat, and 
patriotism was strangled. No student of history is surprised at 
the excesses of that eventful period, for behind it lay the ghastly 
form of St. Bartholemew's eve. In the United States the Com- 
munists of France and the Nihilists of Russia have found an asy- 
lum, and here they seek to propagate their principles by every 
conceivable method. True, there was much to complain of in 
their own countries, for which our sympathies are excited, but 
Ave insist that no cause for dissatisfaction exists under our gov- 
ernment, nor can we allow the excesses into which their early 
education may have led them. In times of monetary depression 
the artisan finds no remunerative employment, so that he is easily 
led to believe it is owing simply to the despotism of the moneyed 
monopolies; there are but few steps then to the incendiary torch 
or the assassin's dagger. All must remember that freedom, like 
its great author, is no respecter of persons. — It knows neither 
the rich nor the poor, the scholar nor the child, as such, but ex- 
tends to all conditions the aegis of its sheltering wing. 

3. I desire to call attention to another danger, and which is 
one of alarming increasing proportions, namely : Romanism — an 
Imperium in Imperio — a government within a government. It 
is not simply religious, nor purely political. It is a politico- 
religious organization, and is for that reason all the more for- 
midable. Through the citadel of conscience it directs its terrible 
enginery and compels political obedience by fulminating its 
anathemas. It is not the province of an enlightened pulpit to 
array one class of citizens against another, but when a religious 
or a political creed works detriment to a common heritage, it is 



4 



OUR DANCER AND DUTY. 



the duty of that pulpit to arouse the people to a sense of the im- 
pending danger. Rome has. thrown herself across the path of a 
true progressive civilization. By the Syllabus of 1870, she op- 
poses freedom of conscience, civil marriage, national secular edu- 
cation, a free Bible, unfettered investigation. Science itself is 
manacled with the withes of ecclesiasticism which is intolerant 
of inquiry and impatient of restraint. Gladstone says on the 
"Vatican Decrees": "Absolute obedience, it is boldly declared 
is due to the Pope at the peril of salvation, not alone in faith, in 
morals, but in all things which concern the discipline and gov- 
ernment of the church. Thus are swept into the Papal net whole 
multitudes of facts, whole systems of government prevailing, 
though in different degrees, in every country of the world. 
Even in the United States, where the severance between church 
and state is supposed to be complete, a long catalogue might be 
drawn of subjects belonging to the domain and competency of 
the state, but also undeniably affecting the government of the 
church, such, as by way of example, marriage, burial, education, 
prison discipline, blasphemy, poor relief, incorporation, mortmain!,, 
religious endowments, vows of celibacy. In Europe the circle 
is far wider, the points of contact and of interlacing are almost in- 
numerable. But on all matters respecting which any Pope may 
think proper to declare that they concern either faith, or morals 
or the government of the church, he claims with the approval of 
a council, undoubtedly eucumenical in the Roman sense, the 
absolute obedience at the peril of salvation of every member of 
his communion." Rome comes to us and says, " your Protestant- 
ism is a failure, our Catholicism is the needed lever for the na- 
tion." Such bold effrontery is without historical parallel. The 
aphorism of Caesar, " Whom the Gods destroy they first make 
mad," seems to be realized here. After having impoverished 
Spain, crazed France with intolerance, prostrated Ireland largely, 
while Mexico and the South American Republics are the syno- 
noms of ignorance, discontent and poverty, with uncrimsoned 
cheek she pushes her despotic claims to the front; wherever she 
has obtained the ascendancy she has been the intractable repres- 
sor of reform. She withdraws from active labor armies of able 
bodied Monks and shuts out from motherhood and blessing, 
thousands of noble but infatuated females. Rome's curses have 
been blessings, and her blessings the sweeping torches of an angry 
God, blasting wherever they have fallen! "The banners of the 
crusaders were consecrated to the chief saints in the calendar, 
yet their bones whitened upon the Saracens' land without achiev- 
ing the end for which they set sail. The nuptial bands of Mary 
of England, and Philip of Spain, were blessed by the Pope, yet 
a more unfortunate marriage was never contracted. The 
Armada was sprinkled with holy water and special masses said 
for its success, but in a few days they were tossed as feathers 
upon the crest of unfuriated seas and sunk or totally disabled. 
Elizabeth of England was excommunicated like her sturdy old. 
father, and though morals were not resplendent, yet her reign 



OUR DANGER AND DUTY. 



5 



has been justly termed the " Augustan Age of English Litera- 
ture." Isabella of Spain was the pet of the Jesuits and of old 
Pio Nono, yet she was forced to abdicate and seek protection 
under the French flag. The same papal blessing rested upon 
Austria and Sadowa was the result which gave undisputed prom- 
inence to Protestant Prussia in the councils of Fatherland. 
In the Franco-Prussian war, victory was assured to France, but 
the world wondered at the tragedy at Sedan. 

From Victor Immanuel and Garibaldi, who were cursed with 
bell, book and candle-light, to the helpless Maximillian come 
proofs of our position. But it may be said these are instances 
of the historic past and do not apply to-day. We claim that 
Rome is unchanged; she has allied herself to the most corrupt 
parties in this land for her individual aggrandizement; she does 
not ask what is patriotism but what is Romanism; neither does 
she query whether her assumptions subserve the interest of the 
Republic but whether they further the claims of Leo. Take 
Xew York City, in which whole blocks are resting in her avar- 
icious maw without having returned a single equivalent therefor. 
How can it be otherwise? She is the only church which does not 
raise her own ministry upon the soil. She depends upon Italy, 
Ireland and France, most of whom come with rancor in their 
hearts against a freedom that palsies their treacherous schemes. 
Romanism furnishes most of the liquor vendors of this country. 
The O's, the Macks, and the Vans, control the traffic and lift to 
the lips of our children the poisoned drug that robs them of 
ambition and of Heaven. 

No person should be deprived of their rights as loyal citizens, 
but when Romanism demands more she should be placed upon 
probation till she vindicate her right to the possession of the 
ballot. 

•i. The last danger to which I call the attention of this Order* 
is America's faithless sons. I have reference now to the men? 
native born, who, to secure the triumph of their own selfish in- 
terests or those of their party, trample on their dearest con- 
victions . "Whatever Rome possesses in this country without 
due purchase, have been given by the representatives of the 
people. The Legislatures through which her schemes have been 
legalized, were vastly American. The New York Legislature 
through which came the vast emoluments already mentioned was 
largely native and Protestant in complexion and so was the 
Governor that signed the grants. In the Assembly of this State, 
when the " Catholic Protectory Bill " was up for passage, some 
of its best support came from men supposed to have had the 
blood of the Puritans in their veins. Now I ask is not this a 
danger of colossal magnitude? There is no probability that 
either in any of the States or at Washington will representatives 
of Roman proclivities amount to any appreciable force, and if 
our liberties are to be surrendered it will be done through the 
trade of political American pirates! 



6 



OUR DANGER AND DUTY. 



OUR DUTY. 

Let us now turn for a short time to consider our duty as be- 
lievers in and lovers of the matchless freedom that prevails 
among us. 

1. The first duty that should be insisted upon, is an intelli- 
gent understanding of the situation of affairs. Ignorance begets 
carelessness in the minds of many, or becomes a factor of great 
potency in provoking outbursts of ungovernable mob law, which 
is specially inimical to all order. If we are to cope successfully 
with the dangers named, we must do so intelligently and wisely, 
and for which we need a clear knowledge of their present status- 
This can only be obtained by the generalization of the facts of 
history and a knowledge of parties in the chief European centres 
from which most of the new population comes, as well as a care- 
ful scrutiny of men and measures that ask our suffrage. There 
are two classes in the country: one claims intelligence, but denies 
the presence of dangers of any force and that directing the 
public mind to them is working a positive injury to the pros- 
perity of the nation in that it brings men's antagonisms to the 
front and begets strife. Others are unduly nervous and would 
resort to violent and reactionary measures. The truth lies mid- 
way between both extremes. The first is the position every enemy 
of the Constitution desires its defenders to assume, so that while 
they lull our fears into slumber, they seek to undermine the 
foundations of the civil and social fabric. The man that carries 
his forebodings too prominently is in a far safer condition than 
he who cries "Peace! peace! when there is no peace." 

Young men, watch well the current of events; specially scan 
with care every measure brought before our State and National 
Legislature. Remember that "eternal vigilance" is still the 
price of liberty. The smallest ripples may reveal the profound- 
est dangers. Heaven help you to keep your eyes open ! 

2. The next duty I would impress upon your minds is that 
patriotism should always take precedence over party ism. Par- 
ties are necessary to all constitutional governments, for it seems 
that unbridled legislation leads to despotism and bloodshed. We 
find that the closer parties approach in strength, the purer the 
legislation we may expect, and that to secure a hold by any one 
party upon the government through a series of years leads to 
corruption. Much as men berate parties, yet we all fall into 
line at the proper time. This is right; but party allegiance is 
secondary at all times to national good. Whatever political fol- 
lowing may be ours, let us never forget that patriotism appeals 
to my highest instincts as a true citizen. Political leaders have 
made subversionary concessions to the foes of constitutional lib- 
erties which should have been politically suicidal to them; in- 
stead of which we find them retaining their hold upon the party, 
shaping caucus action and even legislative enactments, and lead- 
ing in attack upon measures too high for their own unaided smutty 
hands to reach. Let these men know that we shall be no more 
like " dumb, driven cattle," ready to be offered in any shambles 



OUR DANGER AND DUTY. 



7 



at which they propose to sell us. Young men, be the blind dupes 
of no political crowd. There are numbers of loyal men and pure 
who will accept office if it come to them, but who will not by 
dishonest means obtain it. Elevate such men to the niche for 
which they are fitted, and let the Judases of our land, whose kiss 
is the baldest mockery, see that we have no place for them in our 
councils. 

3. The last duty to which I shall direct your attention is the 
necessity of dependence upon God. I would be untrue to you 
and to myself did I not direct you to seek Divine assistance in 
every department of life. We have had indubitable evidence of 
the love that Heaven bears to this land. No constitutional gov- 
ernment was ever founded in the tears and prayers of its citizens 
before ours. All others were the outcome of victory or defeat, 
or the unaided expressions of human wisdom. The tears that 
fell during the wonderful prayer in the first Congress were bot- 
tled by omnipotent love. Permit me to say that young men are 
apt to forget the need of God's help; the prowess of their arm, 
the strength of organization, and the firmness of their resolu 
tions, are deemed sufficient. I need not point out nations which 
had as brave men, as noble and patriotic youth as are ours to- 
day, but they have crumbled! We have already seen, in the na- 
tions teens, so to speak, our prairies redden with the blood of her 
sons, drawn by fraternal knives. We know not what is in the 
future, what enemies are plotting our overthrow, what principles 
are germinating which may yet choke out the seed sowui by the 
weeping husbandmen; but I do know that God weighs them all, 
and that He is sufficient for any emergency that may arise, and 
that, if we trust in Him, our organizations will be the more 
secure, and our efforts meet Avith surer success. 0, young men, 
I am glad to know that some of you are in the army of Jesus 
Christ, and " marching through Immanuel's land, to fairer worlds 
on high." Why not this entire band start for Heaven ? Why 
should brothers be separated in the " judgment of the great 
day," when the jasper gates of the Celestial City stand wide 
open to give you gladsome and eternal welcomes? 

I had a dream which was not all a dream. I stood upon 
the bank of a crystal river, the air was delicious ; the sunlight 
fell softly upon the placid face of the smooth flowing waters. 
As I mused, sweet chimes of distant peals gently smote the still- 
ness that everywhere prevailed. The place to me became en- 
chanted, and unconsciously I found myself moving towards the 
music. As I reached the summit of the intervening hill, before 
me rose in reposeful splendor a stately temple. As I drew 
nearer the chimes became more distinct. The temple's chastely 
proportions grew upon me. There was no display as had other 
temples which I had seen. Ivy climbed not its marble walls ; 
age had not seamed its glistening pinnacles or begrimmed its 
i stately towers. The picture was perfect. Mutely I approached 
the entrance. Its massive doors were wide open and above them 
was sculptured in bold relief " Welcome." I entered. What a 



8 



OUE DANGER. AND DUTY. 



scene ! Mullioned windows admitted the light in beautiful 
tints. The fretted ceilings and the frescoes were of unique 
pattern, chaste in design, masterly in execution, and charming 
in color. I heard the voices of children singing, O, how divinely ! 
In a distant part of the building I noticed a number 
of women dressed in mourning. I drew near and found 
one saying, " only yesterday I followed my last child to the 
grave!" They all burst into tears; I wept too. I moved up 
towards what seemed to be an altar. Old men kneeled low and 
whispered. I stooped and listened. One said, " The days of 
our years are three score years and ten, and if by reason of 
strength they be four score years, yet is their strength labor and 
sorrow, for it is soon cut off and we fly away." And the old 
man had a far-off expression in his countenance. Another was 
humming to himself what I thought was a hymn. I drew a little 
closer, and in cracked tones he sang as he looked up tearfully — 

"Happy tliey who trust in Jesus ; 
Sweet their portion is and sure, 
"When the foe on others seizes, 
He will keep his own secure. 

Happy people ; 
Happj 7- though despised and poor." 

I moved on and beheld another group; they were manly and 
they read intently from a book, and they smiled as they read : 
"Thou art my hiding place; Thou shalt preserve me from 
trouble; Thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance. 
Many sorrows shall be to the wicked, but he that trusteth in the 
Lord, mercy shall compass him about." I turned to leave; sud- 
denly the light went out from the windows, though the chimes 
ceased not: thunders rolled in awful grandeur and lightning 
flashed luridly athwart the darkened heavens. I shuddered as I 
thought of some who might be without a shelter. I looked out 
and saw crowds rushing, apparently, from all points of the com- 
pass, shouting, "Refuge ! Refuge !" They entered, the doors be- 
ing open. Soon a ribald jest was flung out from the drenched 
crowd. The singing of the children's voices grew fainter; the 
chimes had now ceased. Furtive glances were cast upon win- 
dows and ceilings, deep mutterings of threatened vengeance 
seemed to escape their lips. I became agitated, and said: "Nev- 
er! Never! Never shall this temple be destroyed!" And I 
awoke with a stanza from Tennyson upon my tongue : 

"There is a sound of thunder afar, 
Storm in the sky that darkens the day, 

Storm of. battle and thunder of Avar; 
Well if it do not roll our way. 

Form! Form! Riflemen, form! 

Riflemen, riflemen, riflemen for ji!" 

A dream, and more than a dream. 



The Position of Catholics i\ the Ui^ited States. 

A SERMON PREACHED IN ST. MARY'S CHURCH. RAHWAY. N. J., ON 
SUNDAY, JANUARY 4 th, iSSo. 

Rev. S. B. Smith, D.D., 

In Reply to a Sermox Preached by Rev. D. Hallerox, ix the Second M. E. 
Church, Rahway, N. J., Noyember 30TH, 1879. 

[Xote. — It having been announced in St. Mary's Church, on the pre- 
vious Sunday, that the Rector, the Rev. Dr. Smith, would reply to the Rev. 
Mr. Halleron's sermon, the church was filled almost to suffocation long he- 
fore the sermon began. After the pews had been taken up, the aisles be- 
came full. The church was literally packed with people. Among those 
present, we noticed many of the leading non-Catholic citizens of Rahway. 
On all faces the most intense expectation and interest were depicted. The 
services (vespers) began promptly at 7:30 p. m., after which the Rev. Dr. 
Smith ascended the altar, and amid a breathless silence began the following 
discourse :] 

SERMON. 

Dear Brethren — It was with no ordinary reluctance t hat I 
resolved to refute from this sacred place the charges made 
against Catholics and the Catholic religion by the Rev. Mr. Hal- 
leron. Under ordinary circumstances his sermon would have re- 
ceived no notice whatever at my hands. You all well know that 
I have ever been anxious to avoid giving any unnecessary offense 
to my non-Catholic fellow-citizens. Mine has always been a pol- 
icy of peace and social harmony. But it was not deemed suffi- 
cient to fling upon us Catholics the most bare-faced calumnies 
and the grossest insults from the pulpit of the Methodist Church. 
It was considered necessary to publish them to the world at 
large. As you know, Rev. Mr. Halleron's sermon was published 
in the Rahway National Democrat of December 18th, 18 TO. 
Catholics here felt outraged beyond measure. I felt it incum- 
bent upon me, therefore, to reply. In performing this duty, I 
beg to assure my non-Catholic fellow-citizens here present that 
I shall not intentionally utter even one word that could justly 
hurt their feelings. The Rev. Mr. Halleron wished to sow the 
«eed of civil and social discord ; to array in open conflict one 
class of citizens against another. I shall endeavor to establish 
social peace and civil harmony. Here, by the way, let me remark 
that the minister preached at the request of, and to the Order of 



LO 



POSITION OF CATHOLICS IN THE UNITED STATES. 



the "Junior American Mechanics," which order "links the religious 
with the humanly prudential." Strange ! If I am not misin- 
formed, the object of this order is to exclude foreigners, and es- 
pecially Catholics, from employment, civil offices, etc. Is this 
"religious?" Is this fulfilling the law of charity, which is the 
essence of all religion ? 

Let me now come to the chief points of the Minister's sermon. 
They are summarized in his " dream." "I had," he says, "a 
dream which was not all a dream. Before me rose in reposeful 
splendor a stately temple. Its massive doors were wide open, 
and above them was sculptured, in bold relief, 'Welcome!'" 
The minister entered and beheld within various groups of per- 
sons, some singing, others mourning the loss of loved ones, etc. 
All was peaceful. Suddenly, however, the rumbling of thunder 
is heard. Darkness overspreads the temple. Crowds rush from 
without into it for refuge ; but no sooner are they inside the tem- 
ple than they utter dire threats of vengeance, and conspire to 
overthrow the very edifice that had become their asylum. 

The meaning of this " dream " is only too clearly explained by 
the context of the Minister's sermon . The stately temple are 
the liberties, civil and religions, of this country, as contained and 
embodied in the Constitution of the United States. The peace- 
ful, contented groups in it are, of course, the Protestants, and 
pre-eminently the Methodists. The drenched crowds, who basely 
raised their hands against the sacred edifice of American liber- 
ties, are the Roman Catholics. The latter must be put down, 
therefore, at all hazards. If necessary, they must be shot down. 
"Form, form, riflemen, form ! Riflemen, riflemen, riflemen, 
form !" were the significant words on the lips of the minister 
when he awoke from his " dream," which was " more than a 
dream." Is it possible that in this enlightened nineteenth cen- 
tury, and this country of progress and liberal ideas, a direct in- 
citement to bloodshed and internecine strife could have gone 
forth from one who pretends to be a minister of the gospel of 
peace ? 

The first point which the Minister makes is, that Methodism 
has the right of possession against the Catholic religion ; that 
the former is a native, the latter an exotic religious plant here : 
that Catholicity is an "imported ecclesiastical faith," while 
Methodism is " a purely national form " of religious belief in 
this country. Suppose I even granted all this. What would fol- 
low ? Simply, that Methodism was a purely local form of reli- 



POSITION OF CATHOLICS IN THE UNITED STATES. 



1 iJ 



gion, founded exclusively for and adapted solely to this country, 
Can this be the religion of Christ, who commanded his Apostles 
to teach all nations ? Paganism was certainly in long and un- 
disturbed possession of the world when the Apostles began to 
teach Christianity. Was Christianity on that account to be con- 
sidered an intruder, and excluded as an alien ? 

But is it true that Methodism obtained a foothold in this conn- 
try prior to Catholicity ? Not at all. I will allow history, as 
admitted alike by Protestants and Catholics, to speak. On the 
13th of October, 1492, Christopher Columbus discovered Amer- 
ica. He was a true and devoted son of the Catholic Church. A 
Catholic lady, Queen Isabella, of Spain, of whom Irving says,. 
"She w T as one of the greatest and most beautiful characters in 
the pages of history," furnished the necessary means for the ex- 
pedition of Columbus. Protestantism had no share in that glor- 
ious achievement. It did not then exist. Luther was but nine- 
years of age when Columbus planted the cross on the shores of 
San Salvador. Much more does this apply to Methodism, which 
did not exist even as late as 1729. In this year John Wesley,, 
the founder of Methodism, then a student of Christ Church, Ox- 
ford, began his sect or religion. In 1735 he visited the United 
States. From that late day only does Methodism date in this 
country. Now, would you believe it, long before that period 
Catholicity had taken root and nourished in this country, then a 
colony of Great. Britain. Already, on June 17th, 1673 (long be- 
fore Methodism existed), Rev. James Marquette, of the Society of 
Jesus, had discovered and explored the Mississippi; preached the 
gospel and brought civilization to the Indians along its shores. 
This great Jesuit, in sailing down the "Father of the Rivers," 
observed closely all the peculiarities of the river — birds, beasts, 
fishes, plants, trees, Indians — nothing escaped his scientific 
eye. He drew a careful map of the discovery, which was after- 
ward published at Paris. His superhuman labors had broken 
down his youthful frame. On the lone, wild shores of Lake Michi- 
gan, in his thirty-eighth year, on Saturday, May 18, 1675, Father 
J ames Marquette, the first explorer of the Mississippi and the apos- 
tle of the Illinois, rendered his pure and heroic soul to its Makef- 
ile died far from his native land ; far, even, from his companions 
in religion. Looking at his crucifix, the dying hero thanked God 
for granting him the grace to die alone, a Jesuit, a missionary, 
His last words were, "Mother of God, remember me." Ban- 
croft, the Protestant American historian, may well say of 



12 



POSITION OF CATHOLICS IX THE UNITED STATES. 



him: "The West shall build his monument." In 1634 a Catholic 
colony, accompanied by two Jesuit Fathers, took formal posses- 
sion of Maryland. Even before that time the gospel had been 
preached in various parts of this country by Catholic mission- 
aries. So much for Methodism having the claim of priority. 

I come now to the charge that Catholics are enemies of the 
liberties of this country, as laid down in the Constitution. This 
charge is as baseless as it is in direct contradiction with history. 
Catholics in this country, so far from having ever endeavored to 
plot against the liberties, civil and religious, of this country, 
have always been their foremost defenders. Who was it that 
first established in this country the principle of religious liberty ? 
A Catholic Governor and a Catholic Legislature. Sir George 
Calvert, called Lord Baltimore, who had been Secretary oflState 
under James I., and was a loyal Catholic, had emigrated to Mary- 
land in 1633, and there founded a colony "where conscience 
should be free, and every man should worship God according to 
Ms own heart, in peace and perfect security." Under him, on 
April 21, 1649, the Legislature, composed of eleven Catholic and 
three Protestant voters, passed the following memorable 
TOLERATION ACT: 

"Whereas, The enforcing of conscience in matters of religion 
hath frequently fallen out to be of dangerous consequence in 
those Commonwealths where it has been practised, and for the 
more quiet and peaceable government of the province, and the 
better to preserve mutual peace and unity amongst the inhabi- 
tants; therefore, be it enacted that no person or persons whatso- 
ever within this province * . * professing to believe in J esus 
Christ shall from henceforth be in any way troubled or mo- 
lested or discountenanced, for, or in respect of his or her relig- 
ion, nor the free exercise thereof within this province, nor any 
way compelled to the belief or experience of any other religion, 
against his or her consent." 

Can the men who enacted this Act be accused of sentiments 
hostile to the Constitution of the L nited States, which embodies 
almost in identical words the principles of that act ? 

But let us pursue history a little further. Lord Baltimore had 
invited the Puritans to come into Maryland. No sooner had 
they gained the ascendancy than, in 1654, they called together 
an assembly, and revoked the memorable Toleration Act of 1649, 
and issued the most stringent laws against Catholics. When, 
iive years later, the King reinstated Lord Baltimore in his rights 



POSITION OF CATHOLICS IN THE UNITED STATES. 13? 



as Governor of the colony, peace and liberty once more smiled 
on the shores of the Chesapeake. But in 1692 the King sent a 
Protestant Governor to Maryland, and again liberty of con- 
science was proscribed. Nor were these persecutions confined to 
Catholics. The Quakers came in for their own share. In Massachu- 
setts, for the first offense, they lost one ear ; for the second, the 
other; for the third, had their tongue seared with a red hot iron.. 
And here let me remark that the celebrated Willian Penn, a 
Quaker in creed, following the illustrious example of the Catho- 
lic Lord Baltimore, established his colony on the basis of relig- 
ious freedom. In January, 1683, he founded Philadelphia, and pro- 
claimed his liberality by enacting that as God is the only judge 
of man's conscience, every Christian, without distinction of sect, 
should be eligible to public employments. Catholics found free- 
dom under the tolerant swav of Penn. 

CATHOLIC REVOLUTIONARY HEROES. 
If the Rev. Mr. Halleron had read the history of this country 
with even ordinary impartiality he would have seen that Catho- 
lics, so far from being or ever having been enemies to the Con- 
stitution, performed a most patriotic part in the establishment 
of our government. Washington, the father of his country, in 
his reply to the Catholics, thus acknowledges this : "I hope ever 
to see America among the foremost nations in examples of jus- 
tice and liberality, and I presume that your fellow citizens will 
not forget the patriotic part which you took in the establishment 
of their government or the important assistance which they re- 
ceived from a nation "(France)" in which the Roman Catholic 
faith is professed." Will the Rev. Methodist Minister and the 
Junior American Mechanics please ponder these words. This 
tribute of the father of his country, of the first citizen, to Catho- 
lics was indeed but too well deserved. In fact, the Catholics, 
though persecuted in the colonies (now the United States), with a 
noble magnanimity drew the veil of oblivion over all the past 
grievances, and threw their whole weight into the scale of Inde- 
pendence. One of the noblest of the Revolutionary heroes, 
whose name must forever remain inscribed on the National roll 
of honor, was the Catholic Charles Carrol, of Carrolton, Mary- 
land, the last of the signers of the Declaration of Independ- 
ence. 

He was born at Annapolis, Maryland, in 1737. His 
grandfather, Charles Carrol, was a native of Kings Coun- 
ty, Ireland, who emigrated to America about the year 1680. 



: 1 



POSITION OF CATHOLICS IN THE UNITED STATES. 



His grandson, young Charles, the subject of the present 
sketch, received a most excellent education at the hands 
of the Jesuits. He became an accomplished lawyer, and soon 
gained a prominent position in his native State, Maryland. In 
1773-4-5, he took an active part in the measures of opposition 
against Great Britain. In 1776 he was sent by the Continental 
Congress, with Franklin and Chase to win over Canada to the 
•cause of Independence. Having returned home from this mis- 
sion, he used the whole weight of his influence to induce Mary- 
land to join the other colonies in declaring for complete Inde- 
pendence. In this, he was entirely successful. He had the 
honor of being chosen to represent his native State in the Conti- 
nental Congress, 1776. As he wrote Charles Carrol in a clear, 
bold hand on the Declaration of Independence, Ben Franklin, 
who stood by, remarked " There go millions." " No," replied 
another, " there are several Charles Carrols, and he cannot be 
identified." Mr. Carrol hearing this, immediately added to his 
signature i( of Carolton," the name of the estate on which he re- 
sided, remarking as he did so: " They cannot mistake me now." 
He was elected a member of the Board of War. He also con- 
tinued an active and influential member of the Continental Con- 
gress till 1778, when the treaty with France quieted all his fears 
for the success of American Independence. In 1788, he was 
elected United States Senator from Maryland. He remained, 
throughout his whole life, a practical and uncompromising Cath- 
olic. At his family residence, he had an elegant chapel erected. 
Divine service was held there regularly. Eye witnesses have de- 
scribed it as a truly touching sight to behold the illustrious patriot 
.and statesman, at the advanced age of eighty, serving the priest 
at the altar during the Holy Mass. In his last days, he uttered 
these remarkable words: " I have lived to my ninety-sixth year; 
I have been blessed with great wealth, and most of the good 
things which the world can bestow — public approbation, esteem, 
applause. JBut what I now look back on with the greatest satis- 
faction is, that I have practised the duties of my religion^ He 
died on Nov. 14th, 1832, the last survivor of the fifty-six patriots 
of 1776. Will the Methodist minister tell us, that men, like 
these heroes, are to be shot down as conspirators against Ameri- 
ican .liberties. 

From among many other Catholic Revolutionary heroes, I 
shall select but one more. I refer to Commodore Barry, the 
father and founder of the American navy. John Barry was 



POSITION OF CATHOLICS IN THE UNITED STATES. 



15 



Iborn in 1745, in the county of Wexford, Ireland. Throughout 
his whole life he was a true, sincere and devoted Catholic. At 
the age of twenty-five he was already Captain of the " Black 
Prince," one of the best packet vessels of that day. Ha vino- 
become an American, when the Revolutionary Avar broke out, l.e 
gave up the finest ship and the first employ in America and em- 
barked in the service of his country. In 1776 he was entrusted 
by the Continental Congress with the formation of the first 
American fleet. How nobly he performed the task, history 
records. I will only give one or two instances of his heroism 
and devotion to his adopted country. As Commander of the 
United States ship Effingham, he was offered by Lord Howe, the 
British Commander,- $100,000 and the command of a British 
ship of the line, if he would deliver his vessel to the royalists. 
With a noble indignation, this Catholic hero replied that " he 
had devoted himself to the cause of his country, and not the 
value or command of the whole Britsh fleet could seduce him 
from it." In 178,2, he performed a most brilliant action. Re- 
turning from Havana with a large amount of specie and supplies 
for the United States, he encountered a British squadron, in the 
very sight of which he attacked and disabled the sloop Sibyl, 
When hailed by the squadron as to the name of the ship, captain, 
etc., the hero gave this spirited reply: " The United States ship 
Alliance, saucy Jack Barry, half Irishman, half Yankee — who 
are you?" He posssessed, as the National Portrait Gallery says, 
the regard and admiration of Gen. Washington to an eminent 
extent, 

I cannot finish this sketch of some of the Catholic heroes of 
our Revolution without a few words on Archbishop Carrol. He 
was born in Marylard, 1735, and was a cousin of Charles Carrol, 
of Carrolton. He became a Jesuit. As we have seen, he was 
earnestly requested to accompany Franklin, Chase, and Charles 
Carrol,. on their mission to Canada in 17 70. He readily acceded 
to the request. He became an intimate friend of Benjamin 
Franklin. Throughout the entire Revolutionary struggle of 
1776, he warmly sympathized with the cause of Inde- 
pendence. In his correspondence he explained and defended 
its principles. Washington admired his virtues and noble 
character. " From his exalted worth as a minister of God," 
writes G. W. Custis, the adopted son of Washington, u and 
above all, for his distinguished services as a patriot of the 
Revolution, Dr. Carrol stood high, very high in the esteem and 



16 



TOSITION OF CATHOLICS IN THE UNITED STATES. 



influence of the Pater Patrice" By a unanimous resolution of 
Congress he was selected to pronounce the panegyric of Wash- 
ington on Feb. 22nd, 1800. This he did in St. Peter's Church* 
Philadelphia. It is a masterpiece of fervid eloquence, ardent 
patriotism, and pure classic taste. 

I will close this sketch with a word or two on the part taken 
by Catholic nations in our struggle for liberty. In 1778, Catho- 
lic France entered into a formal treaty with this country ; sent 
10,000 men, and three hundred millions of dollars to support 
our cause. Catholic Spain acted no less nobly. She threw open 
all her ports to our vessels ; procured the " Armed Neutrality 
Act " which was so favorable to us ; sent a present of one 
million francs, 3,000 barrels of powder, and blankets for ten 
regiments to our republic in her great struggle for Indepen- 
dence. She even paid the salary of our Minister at Madrid.. 
Yet, of both France and Spain the Rev. Minister tells us that 
they " were almost undisturbed in the slumbers of rude medie- 
valism ;" that " the Romanism" of these countries " is a foe to 
every form of liberty." Has Mr. Halleron forgotten that while 
Roman Catholics were thus nobly fighting for Independence, the 
Methodists, as is well known, were for the most part on the 
Tory side, and sympathized strongly with England? Has he 
forgotten the noble order of Gen. Washington to the arm}'. 
Nov. 5, 1775, rebuking the attempt of some bigots to burn the 
Pope's effigy ? " It is so monstrous," says Washington, " as not 
to be suffered ; indeed, it is our duty to address public thanks 
to our Catholic brethren, as to them we are indebted for every 
late success over the common enemy in Canada." 

The patriotic part which Catholics took in the late civil war is 
too well known to need comment. I will merely give the words 
of Mr. Cortland Parker, one of the most eminent citizens of this 
State, as spoken at a public meeting for the relief of the Irish 
famine, held in Newark, December 28th, 1879 : " I will say that 
I feel that the gratitude of men of all nations will go out to those 
whose countrymen stood by the flag of the Union and sustained 
it ; and I know, and you know, that besides the Americans who 
stood by that banner, there were Irishmen by thousands who 
o-ave their lives for the maintenance of that cause." Can men, 

CD 

such as these, be called foes of American liberties ? 

What ! the Catholic Church " the ' k foe of every form of 
liberty ?" Did the Rev. Minister ever hear of the Magna 
Charta Libertatum, the great palladium of j the liberties, civil 



POSITION OF CATHOLICS IX THE UNITED STATES. 



n 



and religious, of England, extorted from King John of England, 
on July 15, 1:215, by the Catholic barons of the realm, under the 
lead of the Catholic, Stephen Langton, Archbishop of Canter- 
bury ? 

RELATION OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH TO OUK REPUBLIC. 

So far I have refuted the Minister's charge that Catholics are, 
or ever have been, disloyal to this country. I will now take up 
his next charge, which is, that the Catholic Church, as such, i.e., 
its constitution, is antagonistic to our government. He says: 
• k I desire to call attention to another danger, and which is of 
alarmingly increasing proportions, namely, Romanism— an Im- 
perium in imperii) — a government within a government. It is 
not simply religious, nor purely political. It is a politico-relig- 
ious organization, and is for that reason all the more formi- 
dable. Through the citadel of conscience it directs its terrible 
enginery, and compels political obedience by fulminating its 
anathemas." 

This sentence contains as many untruths as words. It is not 
true that the Catholic Church is a " government within a 
government," in the sense of the Rev. Minister. It is not true 
that she is a " politico-religious organization." She is a reli- 
gious, not a politico-religious organization. It is not true that 
she kt compels political obedience." I ask, have I ever in any 
way interf ered with your rights as voters and citizens ? Have I 
ever forbidden any one to vote for whom and for what party he 
pleased ? Did I ever attempt to coerce you in political matters? 
Never ! The Church is the teacher of mankind. She points 
out to us our moral duties. Hence, she also tells us that in the 
exercise of the elective franchise or the right of voting, we are 
bound to act conscientiously, not from base motives. That is 
all. Is this wrong ? Is this conrpelling political obedience ? 
But does the Church claim any political power V Is she a poli- 
tico-religious organization V By no means. She is a spiritual 
society. Her object is to lead men to Heaven. Civil society 
has for its object the temporal welfare of its subjects. The two 
are therefore not antagonistic. Or does not the Rev. Methodist 
Minister claim for his church a spiritual organization ? If so, 
is not Methodism likewise a government Avithin a government? 

The Church's teaching on this head is thus explained by the great 
Canonist Tarquini, a Cardinal of the Church : " In things tem- 
poral, and in respect to the temporal end, the Church has no 
power over the State." " Hence," continues he, " the civil 



18 



POSITION OF CATHOLICS IN THE UNITED STATES. 



society or State, even though every member of it be a Catholic, 
is not subject to the Church, but wholly independent of her in 
temporal tilings, viewed as to the temporal end." Pope St. 
Gelasius, writing to the Emperor Anastasius, in 494, says: "In 
the public administration (i.e., in civil matters) even the Bishops 
and Popes obey your laws, because they "know that the empire 
has been given to you by a disposition of Divine Providence." 

Pope St. Gregory II. (715-731) in his letter to the Emperor 
Leo, the Isaurian, says: "As the Pope has no power to interfere 
in secular or civil matters, and assume the duties and offices of 
the temporal ruler, so neither has the Emperor," &c. Finally the 
twelfth (Ecumenical Council 'of the Church (Fourth Council of 
Lateran), held in 1215 by Pope Innocent III., when the Papacy 
was at the zenith of its glory, thus lays down the law of the 
Church : " We decree that as laics should not usurp the rights 
of ecclesiastics, so neither shall ecclesiastics presume to arrogate 
to themselves the rights of laics. Therefore we forbid all eccle- 
siastics to extend their powers, under cover of ecclesiastical 
liberties, to the prejudice of the secular authority. * * So 
that to Caesar may be rendered what is Caesar's, and to God 
what is God's." As you observe, in all these authorities which 
I have quoted, the distinction is clearly drawn between the 
Church and the State. Each has its peculiar sphere, its distinct 
object, and the corresponding appropriate right to make use of 
the means to attain to that object, that is, the exercise of legiti- 
mate power. The Catholic Church then is no " menace" to our 
Republican form of Government. She is not a " danger to our 
American Institutions as handed down by the fathers." Far 
from it. The Rev. Minister cannot be unaware of the fact that the 
Catholic Republics of Switzerland, Venice, Genoa, Andora, San 
Marino, &c, sprang up and flourished in the middle ages, when 
the Catholic Church alone ruled supreme in the spiritual order. 
GRANTS OF LAND TO THE CATHOLIC CHURCH. 

The Methodist Minister again makes this assertion: "Take 
New York city, in which whole blocks are resting in her (Cath- 
olic Church's) avaricious maw, without (which? "whole blocks,'' 
or Catholic Church?) having returned a single equivalent there- 
for." Is it not too mean that these " whole blocks " should have 
been so ungrateful as not to return even "a single equivalent" 
to the Catholic Church for the great privilege of " resting in her 
avaricious maw?" If the Minister's English is bad, his logic is 
worse. Where is your proof, Mr, Halleron ? Would you believe 



POSITION OK CATHOLICS IN THE II NTT Kb STATES. 



19 



it, dear brethren, that the Minister's assertion is wholly un- 
founded? The Catholic Church, in New York city, holds in 
" her avaricious maw " not even one inch of ground for which 
she has not returned its full equivalent. It is true that three 
charitable institutions in New York City, conducted by Cath- 
olics, have obtained grants of land from that City. But it is 
also true that at least sixteen Protestant Institutions have ob- 
tained similar, nay, far more extensive grants from New York 
City. You will please observe that the grants of lands to Cath- 
olic Charitable Institutions are simply charitable trusts and were 
in no sense given to the Church as such, or for church purposes. 

The following are the Catholic Institutions that received such 
grants from the city: 

1. The Roman Catholic Orphan Asylum, conducted by Sisters 
of Charity, now located near the Cathedral, Fifth avenue, and 
Fifty-second street, received from the Common Council of New 
York City, on August 1st, 1846, a plot of ground on condition 
of erecting a suitable Orphan Asylum thereon. 2. St Joseph's 
Industrial Home, conducted by Sisters of Mercy. It is established 
for the support and protection of destitute girls between 11 and 
18 years of age, who receive free tuition and support. It is 
situated on Eighty-first street and Madison avenue. The ground 
on which it stands was leased to it by the City of New York for 
m'nety-nine years, on February 3d, 1866. 3. New York Found- 
ling Asylum. It is in charge of Sisters of Charity and supports 
2,000 infants, no matter whether they belong to Catholics or 
non-Catholics. The land on which it stands was given by the 
city, on December 15th, ] 870, on a lease of ninety-nine years. 
These are the only grants of land on record to Catholic Insti" 
tutions. 

GRANTS OF LAND TO PROTESTANT AND NON-CATHOLIC 
INSTITUTIONS. 

1. The Colored Orphan Asylum. The Protestant is the 
religion taught in it. It received from New York City, Dec. 
29th, 1842, a tract of land 250x200 feet on Fifth avenue, 
Forty-third and Forty -fourth streets. 2. Protestant Episcopaj 
Orphan Asylum. It received from New York City, April 26th ? 
1861, a lease for 20 years (which means simply a grant), at one 
dollar a year, of a tract of land, 100x305 feet, on Forty-ninth 
street and Lexington avenue. The institution is strictly Pro- 
testant Episcopalian. 3. The Hebrew Orphan Asylum, for 



20 



POSITION OF CATJtOT/tCS TX TTfE UNITED STATES. 



Jewish children. On Oct. 29th, 1800, New York City conveyed 
to it for one dollar, in fee simple, a tract of land, 300x102 feet, 
on Seventy-seventh street and Third avenue; on October 17th, 
1864, five adjoining lots. 4. Baptist Ladies' Home, received 
from the city, on November 28th, 1878, a lease for ninety-nine 
years, at the yearly rent of one dollar, a tract of land (10 lots) 
between Lexington and Fourth avenues, 125x200 feet. 5. The 
Chapin Home, for the aged and infirm, is a Congregationalist 
institution. It obtained from the city, March 29th, 1871, a lease 
for ninety-nine years, at the yearly rent of one dollar, a plot of 
ground 170x200 feet on Sixty-sixth and Sixty-seventh streets, 
fourteen lots. 6. Society for the Reformation of Juvenile 
Delinquents, on Randall's Islands. This is a Protestant institu- 
tion with a Protestant chaplain. Catholic priests are not allowed 
to enter, except when especially asked for. It received from the 
city, in 1824, a large plot of ground on Madison Square, which 
it exchanged for land on Twenty-third street and First avenue 
In 1854 additional land was given it. The Society had the whole 
block, 197x613 feet. On November 10th, 1851, the city gave 
them thirty-six acres on Randall's Island. 7. Nursery and Child's 
Hospital. This Protestant Institution received from the city a 
grant of land of fifteen lots, on August 1st, 1857, and February 
16th, 1866. 8. St. Philip's Church, a Protestant Episcopal 
Church, for colored people. In 1827 the city granted it a plot, 
50x200 in First street as a burying ground. 0. Church of the 
Redeemer. This Protestant Episcopal Church received from the 
city, December 21st, 1864, a plot 204 feet on Fourth avenue, 200 
feet on Eighty-first street; 100 feet on Eighty-second street. 
10. St. Luke's Hospital. This Protestant Episcopal Institution 
received from the city, on May 10th, 1848, a tract of land 
200x300 on Fifty-fourth street, 11. Mt. Sinai Hospital for Jews. 
It received from the city a grant of land 200x170 on Sixty-sixth 
street, on May 31st, 1871. 12. German Hospital. This Protest- 
ant Institution obtained a grant of land (18 lots^) from the city 
on February 9th, 1866. 13. Deaf and Dumb Institution. This 
is a distinctly Protestant establishment. In September, 1827, 
the city granted it a tract of land 207x20*} feet, Forty-ninth and 
Fiftieth streets. 

I might go on and enumerate several other non-Catholic insti- 
tutions that have received grants of land from New York. But it 
were superfluous. Here I have to correct an erroneous notion. 
The common impression among non-Cat holics is that the plot upon 



posttiox Of CATfiOtlCS rx TftF t7Xrfi2r> STATES. 



21 



which the Cathedral of New York is built, was donated by the 
city. This is not true. The records of New York show that it 
passed from the city into private hands at the close of the last 
century. Catholics purchased it, not from the city, but from 
private individuals in 18*39, for $5,500, then a fair price. In 
1852, the Cathedral bought the half interest of it from St. Peter's 
church for $59,500. 

A few more remarks and I am done. The Rev. Methodist 
Minister gays: " We claim that Rome * * * has allied herself 
to the most corrupt parties in this land for her individual 
aggrandizement." Will he please inform us, what those " cor- 
rupt parties" are? Rome has allied herself to no party. 
Catholics as such belong neither to the Democratic nor Repub- 
lican party. They are perfectly free to belong to either party. 
Again the Minister says : " How can it be otherwise ? She (the 
Catholic Churchl is the only church which does not raise her 
own ministry upon the soil. She depends upon Italy, Ireland 
and France, most of whom " (which ? Italy, Ireland and France, 
or the priests from those countries?) " come with rancor in their 
hearts against a freedom that palsies their treacherous schemes." 
If this sentence, the minister will pardon me for saying it, is bad 
English, the logic is still worse. You have an inference based 
upon entirely false premises. We will take it for granted that 
neither Italy, nor Ireland, nor France came here with rancor in 
their hearts. But it is not true that the Catholic Church does 
not " raise her ministry upon the soil," I myself am a child of 
this country, and have been "raised upon the soil." More than 
nine-tenths of the Catholic clergy of the present day have been 
*• raised upon the soil." The whole country is dotted with our 
Seminaries, where young men are trained for the sacred 
ministry. 

The Minister informs us : " It seems as if geologic variations, 
or the natural contour of lands had a determining influence upon 
the religious faith * * * prevailing among them. (Whom ?) 
Thus we see the reformation not moving southwards," etc. 
This is strange ! Whoever heard that " geologic variations," 
and u the natural contour of lands," in other words, the climate 
of a country, etc., have a " determining influence " upon the 
religion of a people ? Mr. Halleron will allow us to tell him 
that it was not " geologic variations," nor even "the natural con- 
tour of lands," that caused the reformation of Luther to move 
"with the Rhine," and "permeate the valleys of England.'" 



POSITION OF CATHOLICS TN TttE utflT^O STATES. 



The chief reason may be summed up in this fact. Philip, Land- 
grave of Hesse, had been married sixteen years to Christina, 
daughter of George of Saxony and was the father of eight children. 
Meanwhile he had become enamored of a certain lady — Mar- 
garet von der Saale. Wishing to marry the latter lady, and 
knowing well that in the Catholic Church he never could obtain 
any sanction for his intended polygamy, he applied to Luther 
and Melancthon for permission to take a second wife. They 
authorized this step, for the following noteworthy reason: "In 
order to provide for the welfare of his body and soul, and to bring 
greater glory to God." Think of it! Bigamy " to bring greater 
glory to God! " Luther himself, contrary to his solemn engage- 
ment, threw off the monastic habit, and, on June 13, 1525, mar- 
ried Catharine Bora. Hence the famous Erasmus said : " It was 
thought that Luther was the hero of a tragedy: but for my own 
part, I regard him as playing the chief character in a comedy, 
which has ended, as every comedy ends, in a marriage." These 
facts may perhaps explain the fact of the Reformation " moving 
with the Rhine." 

How the reformation came to " permeate " England cannot be 
unknown to the Minister. Henry VIII., that "sturdy king," 
had lived seventeen years with his lawful wife, Catharine of 
Arragon. Then the lecherous king fell in love with Anne 
Boleyn. He requested Pope Clement VII. to declare his mar- 
riage wijh Catharine invalid (1527). But Henry did not find 
the Holy See as pliable as Philip of Hesse had found Luther and 
Melancthon. On the contrary, the Pope declared the marriage 
between Henry and Catherine lawful and valid. This decision, 
and not the " geologic variations," or the " natural contour of 
lands," was the signal for the rupture with Rome. 

The religious communities of the Catholic Church also come in 
for their share of abuse: " She " (Rome) " withdraws from active 
labor armies of able-bodied monks, and shuts out from mother- 
hood and blessing, thousands of noble but infatuated females." 
Mr. Halleron here has allowed his zeal to outstrip his judgment. 
Rome compels no one to become a monk or a nun. On the con- 
trary, she has enacted the most stringent laws against compul- 
sory entrance into a religious community, especially of females. 
She requires the fullest liberty on the part of postulants. It is 
hot true that " she withdraws from active labor armies of able- 
bodied monks." The life of a monk is one of incessant " active 
labor," and unremitting toil from early in the morning till late 
at night. 

Or, is Mr. Halleron so much of a tyro in history, as to be ignor- 
ant of the fact that the monks not only engaged in manual 
labor, tilling the land and turning deserts into verdant fields, but 
also occupied themselves in the cultivation of the arts and the 
study of the sciences ? Does he not know that but for them 
civilization must have well nigh perished with the inroads of the 
barbarians? St. Benedict, Patriarch of the monks of the West, 
expressly ordains in his rule that besides the time spent in 



POSITION OF CATHOLICS IN THE UNITED STATES. 



23 



prayer, seven hours a day should be given to manual labor, and 
two hours to reading and study. Who does not know that each 
monastery became a school of learning, where the sons of the 
noblest families were brought up and instructed! 

In Ireland, that noble land, that Isle of Saints (which the 
Minister has singled out for abuse more than anywhere else), 
each monastery was a school, and each school a workshop of 
transcription, from which day by day issued new copies of the 
sacred scriptures, &c. These marvellous manuscripts, illuminated 
with incomparable ability and patience by the monastic family 
of St. Columba, excited five hundred years later the declam- 
atory enthusiasm of a great enemy of Ireland, the Anglo-Nor- 
man historian, Gerald de Barry. They still attract the attention 
of archaeologists and philosophers of the highest fame. Exact 
annals of the times were also made up in these monastries. 
Under the fostering care of the great St. Columba the land 
had become already in the 6th century dotted with religious 
houses that became the abodes of learning. Ireland had come 
to be regarded by all Christian Europe as the principal centre 
of knowledge and piety. St. Columba died June 9, 597. 

The Rev. Minister calls nuns, or women belonging to religious 
communities, " noble but infatuated females." Were then the 
Sisters of Charity, who in our late civil war so heroically ministered 
to the wounded and dying, even on the field of battle, '* infa- 
tuated females ?" Is it possible that a Christian minister should 
style those ° infatuated" who follow in their lives the counsels 
and examples of our Saviour Himself ? Has he ever read the 
glorious eulogies bestowed upon virginity by St. Basil, St. 
Chrysostom, St. Ambrose, and other Fathers of the Church ? 
Can it be possible that this Christian Minister stigmatizes as an 
infatuation what was venerated by even the Pagan world of 
old ; by the Greeks, in the priestesses of Ceres ; by the Romans, 
in their vestals ; by the Gauls, in their Druidesses ; by the Ger- 
mans, in their prophetesses ? Has Methodism gone so far as to 
place the stamp of condemnation upon holy virginity ? 

Again, the Minister in virtuous indignation tells us: "Rome 
comes to us and says, 'your Protestantism is a failure.' . . Such 
bold effrontery is without historical parallel." Pray, Rev. 
Minister, be not quite so indignant. Have you not read Mr. 
Fronde's recent articles in the North American Review? Does 
he not there tell you 'your Protestantism is a failure ?' Rome 
then is not the on^.y one that says so. 

Mr. Halleron again says: "Romanism furnishes most of the 
liquor venders of the country. The O's and the Macks control 
the traffic." This is a strange assertion. Even though it were 
true that Roman Catholics controlled the liquor traffic here, 
pray would it follow that " Romanism" or the Catholic Church 
was responsible for it ? Are there no Methodists in the liquor 
traffic ? If so, is Methodism responsible for the fact '? Is it not 
absurd to lay the blame to the door of the Catholic Church for 
the intemperance of some pf her children, when both in principle 



POSITION OY CATHOLICS IN THE UNITED STATES. 



and in fact she is, and always has been, the staunchest advocate 
of temperance and sobriety ? In connection with this matter, I 
am reminded of the Minister's rather, original expression that 
"the tears that fell . . were botded by Omnipotent love." 
This figure of bottling smacks rather of the " liquor vendor," and 
seems hardly reverential in connection with the prayers of an 
afflicted people. But is it true that the "liquor traffic" in this 
country is ''controlled" by Irishmen and practical Catholics? 
This I deny absolutely. 

Mr. Halleron's sermon reminds me strongly of the Protestant 
parson whose eloquence was of such peculiar character as to suc- 
ceed almost invariably in hilling the audience asleep. One by 
one his hearers would begin nodding and dozing. After cogi- 
tating for some time what to do, he fell, one Sunday, on the fol- 
lowing ingenious expedient : As he was preaching, and his con- 
gregation were going off on their customary nap, he suddenly 
shouted, in stentorian tones, "Down with Popery ! " Lo! what 
happens? A wonderful change has come over the congregation. 
The dozing and nodding parishioners become, at once, the most 
attentive listeners. Everybody is on the alert. His device had 
worked like a charm. So ever after, when he found that his par- 
ishioners were about to fall, back into their former sin of dozing 
and nodding during his lugubrious sermons, he would lustily 
shout, "Down with Popery!" and invariably it produced its 
effect. 

Our Methodist Minister seems to have taken to this parson's 
experiment. His sermon is made up of incoherent utterances. 
His whole object seems to have been to shout "Down with 
Popery ! " as often as possible. His congregation had probably 
become tired of him. So he adopted the parson's device. But, 
thanks to the good sense of the people of this city, his bigoted 
expedient met with utter failure. His conduct has been univer- 
sally branded with the contempt it deserves. 

I am now done. I leave it to the judgment of my non-Catho- 
lic fellow citizens here present, whether men who have dis- 
covered and first planted civilization in this country, and who 
shed their blood so heroically in its defence, both in the Revolu- 
tionary and late civil wars, can be called conspirators against 
the American liberties? Whether they are the men who have 
"Hung ribald jest " against our government? Whether from 
their " lips have escaped the deep mutterings of threatened ven- 
geance" against the glorious, stately temple of our American 
Republic ? Whether against these men it is necessary for 
" Riflemen, riflemen, riflemen " to form? 



